Do I Need A Trangia?

[trekker12]

I would've just gone to the nearest pub for that 

Steak with trimmings and brandy sauce is one of our camping staples. Much more fun and definitely more cost effective (even considering the gas price) than a pub cooked one. You can then go to the pub afterwards and enjoy a beer having the satisfaction that you can afford moar beer and you made something all of your own doing.

[Oscar's dad]

I would've just gone to the nearest pub for that 

The whole trip was a voyage of discovery including the cooking. It was fun.

I know all about your voyages of discovery. No doubt the next morning you dug a hole and shat that steak straight into it!

I didn't, I was being civilised!

[loadsabikes]

Lots of stove porn at basecampfood.com 

[Kim]

Did I mention that you can stir food in a Trangia pan one-handed?  Try that with a precarious little gas stove...

[SA_SA_SA_SA]

I always thought the 27 seemed small for proper cooking and find access to the simmer control is awkward(==ouch):
by using a 25 size tatonka pan and (2nd hand) triangle with alpkit windbreak* managed to simmer stuff fairly easily. *Probably not much lighter than an weight optimised 25 setup but packs smaller.
NB I think the esbit simmer control is better than that of  the trangia.

I thought a trangia is fast enough for 500ml or less boils. Running a gas stove at max for 2-3 min boils surely just wastes gas and makes more CO ... Plus a trangia is quiet allowing reading/admiring scenery etc....

Lightness:
1) With the size of 25 pans is the  frypan actually necessary: ie fry in pan and just  use a homemade alu foil circle with wooden knob as lid (I weigh it down with pot grip)?

2) Kettle vs pan: why not replace inner pan and kettle  with a hybrid kettle-like pan like
http://www.seatosummit.com/product/?item=X-Pot+%2F+Kettle&o1=0&o2=0&o3=130-41
 (I usually only used inner 27 pan for boiling/pasta)
NB I don't think there's any point in suggesting new ideas to Trangia
Perhaps alpkit will make one....


Gas vs meths:
1)Logical:
I like seeing how much is in the bottle.
Its cheap (1pound per 500ml at home bargains)
Has other uses.
2) other
I just like it.
I like the smell of meths in the morning

[ElyDave]

I just bought myself a natty little stove that can use either a trangia burner,  solid fuel tablets, or pencil thick twigs.  Slotted together bits of steel so packs flat and fits inside a rectangular mess tin.  I was very surprised how efficient it was, boiling a mess tin of water in about 5 mins.  Would be ideal for lightweight camping, but possibly one to watch with little people running around.

[andrewc]

Various articles on using Trangias with multi fuel burners.

http://www.threewheeling.net/trangia-stove-with-additional-gas-and-multifuel-burners/


https://somecampingstoves.wordpress.com/2014/12/07/trangia-x2-multifuel-burner/


https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fothra.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F09%2F14%2Fedelrid-hexon%2F&edit-text=&act=url

[Wowbagger]

I would've just gone to the nearest pub for that 

The whole trip was a voyage of discovery including the cooking. It was fun.

I know all about your voyages of discovery. No doubt the next morning you dug a hole and shat that steak straight into it!

I didn't, I was being civilised!

You mean you missed the hole?

[SA_SA_SA_SA]

I wonder if Gel is actually safer than liquid denatured alcohol/meths in a proper self-closing trangia bottle:

liquid alcohol spilt on skin evaporates quickly, a gel will surely be a thick sticky flammable jam on your arm:
I am sure I read somewhere of an unfortunate person hurting their arm by discovering why that is a bad idea near a flame.

[Fab Foodie]

I just bought myself a natty little stove that can use either a trangia burner,  solid fuel tablets, or pencil thick twigs.  Slotted together bits of steel so packs flat and fits inside a rectangular mess tin.  I was very surprised how efficient it was, boiling a mess tin of water in about 5 mins.  Would be ideal for lightweight camping, but possibly one to watch with little people running around.

Recently bought one of those (Pocket stove) to use with an Alpkit 600ml MyTi mug.  Add the Alpkit wind shield and it works a treat for lightweight camping, even in the windiness of the Outer Hebrides.  I've used it with both Meths and Esbit tabs and prefer the Esbit for light trips as the fuel is easy to use and lighter and more compact than carrying Meths. 
Otherwise I've used my Trangia on and off for some 38 years.  There's nothing to go wrong, you can pass it onto your great grandchildren!
At New Years we took the Trangia, and mulled wine on Deal Beach to keep us warm until Champagne time

Am also surprised @Butterfly doesn't already own several.

[quixoticgeek]

I've got a selection of different stoves, my stove of choice for all round things is the Primus Omnilite Ti, with Alpkit ali pots. I've tried lots of different stoves and of the meths stoves I've used, I have found the Zelph starlite stove to be the most efficient in terms of fuel use, whilst also being exceptionally light and durable. The triangia is a lovely stove, built like a stone out building, pretty idiot proof, but so bloomin heavy, and over engineered I struggle to find a justification for using one. There are just better options out there.

J

[Jakob W]

Horses for courses; if I actually want to cook food rather than just boil water, then a trangia is stable, quiet, and works in all weathers (except possibly sub-zero temps). And for actual cooking I don't see how you could shave more than 500 grams off the weight of the UL variants, which is totally insignificant compared to my touring all-up weight. Obviously 500g here and there does add up, but as long as the rest of my kit is reasonably optimised I'm happy to make that trade-off.

[quixoticgeek]

Horses for courses; if I actually want to cook food rather than just boil water, then a trangia is stable, quiet, and works in all weathers (except possibly sub-zero temps). And for actual cooking I don't see how you could shave more than 500 grams off the weight of the UL variants, which is totally insignificant compared to my touring all-up weight. Obviously 500g here and there does add up, but as long as the rest of my kit is reasonably optimised I'm happy to make that trade-off.

I don't think my full meths based cooking setup reaches 250g...

I've had a lot of issues with meths not lighting in the cold, but then I also cycle camp in sub zero weather (-6°C this past winter was fun, frost nip, less so) So by about October, the meths setups go in the cupboard, and the multifuel stuff comes out.

In summer if I'm going somewhere I don't know what fuel I'll use, I will carry the Omnilite Ti. Nice thing about the zelph starlite stove is that it's so small I can carry it as well as the Omnilite to cover all the bases.

It's worth also noting that as soon as you are carrying any quantity of meths, the low energy density rapidly becomes an issue. Carrying the same quantity of petrol as meths, even allowing for the extra weight of a multifuel stove.

Oh, and of course, with a descent multifuel stove you get much better flame control than meths, which means you can simmer and the like.

As for the "does the weight matter?". Well my base weight is <2.5kg[1], so yes, adding an 800g cooking setup tends to smart...

J

[1] Sleeping bag (1kg), sleep mat (470g), tarp (198g), bivvi bag (484g).

[Kim]

Simmering isn't the problem with meths, it's the gap between simmer and full power that's the problem.  Mostly an issue with frying.

[Jakob W]

Yeah, but does your full meths cooking setup include 2 pots, frying pan, and stable windshield? I'm not arguing trangias are lightweight, but for proper cooking (especially for more than one person) they work very well (though I agree simmering with meths is a bit of a faff.) If I'm travelling lightweight I tend to find the bulk is more of a problem than the weight, but then me+bike is over 100kg anyhow, so even 800g doesn't really make much difference to me.

[quixoticgeek]

Yeah, but does your full meths cooking setup include 2 pots, frying pan, and stable windshield? I'm not arguing trangias are lightweight, but for proper cooking (especially for more than one person) they work very well (though I agree simmering with meths is a bit of a faff.) If I'm travelling lightweight I tend to find the bulk is more of a problem than the weight, but then me+bike is over 100kg anyhow, so even 800g doesn't really make much difference to me.

Usually it's 1 pan plus a lid that doubles as a frying pan, plus a mug. I tend to only cook for 1 as noone is bonkers enough to join me on my trips...

If I'm just boiling water (say for rehydrating stuff), then the all up weight is 160g.

When I get home later I'll dig some of it out and take some photos and weights.

J

[Jakob W]

Wow, ok - that's proper weight weenie!

[quixoticgeek]

Wow, ok - that's proper weight weenie!

Not really, if I was going proper weight weanie I'd leave the exped synmat 7UL at home, and take a 9mm CCF pad at ~200g, and I'd replace the synthetic sleeping bag with a down bag... or a down quilt...

J

[SA_SA_SA_SA]

Simmering isn't the problem with meths, it's the gap between simmer and full power that's the problem.  Mostly an issue with frying.

Do you mean the (annoying) fact that the simmer ring must be removed to swap between  full power and some sort of  simmering ?
The competing (but obsolete) Optimus Trapper (81)  meths stove / pan set had an external slider that went from low-100%:  if only Trangia would  bother to try to make an optional  burner a bit more  like that.....

[Veloman]

I used to be a massive Trangia fan (and also had the Optimus equivalent) and had many happy days travelling with it.  I still have the kit somewhere in the garage.  All this talk about meths?  Many years ago when backpacking in Greece we found it very difficult to obtain meths and a chance meeting with a more experienced traveller and Trangia user solved the problem.  Metaxa brandy!  Cheaper than meths and because of the water content did not dirty the pans as much.  OK, slightly longer cook time, but very good substitute for meths.

Have travelled to many remote places around the world I have used many stoves and if I want super light then Pocket Rocket it is with small Coleman gas cylinder that I have already purchased.  If in France then the simple alpine style stove for stability and blue canister gaz type stove as the gaz is so readily available in France.  Really remote stuff (eg mountaineering in Bolivia or Nepal) it had to be MSR multi-fuel.  Until a few years back I still used my Trangia but substituted pots for either stainless or non-stick as I care not for aluminium cookware.  I also tended to use the gas converter arrangement for car based camping only as it is slightly larger than the Pocket Rocket for other uses.

Regards windshields, I have always found a suitable length of aluminium foil folded over a number of times makes a good stove surround and protects from the wind.  MSR used to sell one based on such an arrangement but the aluminium was thicker than kitchen foil.

[mrcharly-YHT]

[1] Sleeping bag (1kg), sleep mat (470g), tarp (198g), bivvi bag (484g).

How do you keep the midges out?

[quixoticgeek]

How do you keep the midges out?

Time domain insect protection. I avoid Scotland in midge season... :p In insect season I carry a mosquito headnet, which I wear in the bivvi bag. Keeps the worst of them away...

J

[mark]

Regards windshields, I have always found a suitable length of aluminium foil folded over a number of times makes a good stove surround and protects from the wind.  MSR used to sell one based on such an arrangement but the aluminium was thicker than kitchen foil.

MSR still sells one, at least in the US. They're included with the liquid/multi-fuel stoves, and are also sold separately. The thicker aluminum means you don't have to fold the foil over as you described.

[Kim]

Simmering isn't the problem with meths, it's the gap between simmer and full power that's the problem.  Mostly an issue with frying.

Do you mean the (annoying) fact that the simmer ring must be removed to swap between  full power and some sort of  simmering ?
The competing (but obsolete) Optimus Trapper (81)  meths stove / pan set had an external slider that went from low-100%:  if only Trangia would  bother to try to make an optional  burner a bit more  like that.....

Not so much that (although removing and refitting the simmer ring is a bit of a faff, and adjusting the lid on the simer ring while it's hot requires real skill), as the limited range of settings the simmer ring provides:

Close the lid on the simmer ring right down to a small gap and you get an admirably low heat that's hard to achieve on the average gas stove.  You've got a smooth variation between that and the simmer ring fully open.  But from there it's a huge jump up to the heat of full power, wich roughly corresponds to the range between "are the sausages even cooking?" and "sausages burning and sticking to the pan".  Hence I prefer gas for frying, as you have the full range of control available at the tweak of an analogue knob.

Meths burners are best at simmering things in boiling water, where fine control isn't that important (it's generally easier to add a little extra water than keep tweaking the simmer ring).

[ElyDave]

Sausage casserole?